BBT editor Paul Revel joined a group of international journalists at the new Hamad International airport in Doha to talk to Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways. Al Baker was hosting airline bosses and Qatari government ministers at a press conference and ceremony to mark Qatar Airways’ official entry into the Oneworld alliance
There will be no slowing down for Qatar Airways over the next few years with the airline set to receive “one new aircraft on average every 15 days”, according to outspoken CEO Akbar Al Baker as he talked about the airline’s vigorous plans for expanding and renewing its fleet.
“The average age of our 130-aircraft fleet is five years old,” he said. “We rigorously maintain this with a robust delivery programme.”
He cited “orders and options for more than 250 new aircraft in the next few years”, including 13 A380s, 80 A350s, 50 more B787s and 80 A320 Neos. He was confident the delivery of the A350s would be on time, starting in the first half of 2014, joking that they had no lithium ion batteries to worry about – a reference to the Dreamliner’s infamous battery problems earlier this year.
The airline boss was also asked about his interest in Airbus’s mooted double-stretched version of the A350 (larger than the A350-1000) and a stretched Dreamliner Boeing 787-10X. He expressed interest in the super-stretch A350 “provided it has the right economics, range and payload, in the conditions prevailing in summer in our country”.
But he was not interested in the stretched Dreamliner because its size and economics are very similar to the A350-900s, of which a large order is already in place.
Qatar Airways had previously said it would consider an initial public offering (IPO) after three years of consecutive profit. Is this now the case? “Yes we have had more than three years of profit,” said Al Baker. “But with the recession in the world that has happened, our government decided to delay an IPO until further notice. And quite frankly, I would prefer that we don’t have an IPO until our growth strategy is all delivered.”
Al Baker said he was confident of a future agreement with the Spanish authorities to operate flights to Latin America via Barcelona’s El Prat airport. “Spain is opening up, and they know that aviation is a very important part of the economy,” he said.
Doha’s new airport Hamad International – where the event took place – was due to open in December 2012 but is still not operational. Al Baker wouldn’t discuss the long delay – local reports say it will open early in 2014 – but did say the final phase, bringing capacity to 50 million passengers per year, would be ready in three years’ time.
With this capacity, alongside the new Dubai World Central’s potential 160 million passengers, plus expansion plans in Abu Dhabi and Istanbul – will the region suffer from over-capacity? “The world population is growing – in particular the middle class populations of the major upcoming economies in the world; Brazil, India and China,” he replied. “So this capacity will be very quickly filled.”
What about the rumours of Al Baker’s imminent departure from the airline? He said it was “wishful thinking” on the part of those who’d like to see Qatar Airways disappear. He said rumours were circulated to try to “demotivate our staff who are very committed to our growth”.
He added: “I am the soldier of my government. The decision for me to stay or leave is dependent on my ruler.”
But what about the fact that some of Qatar Airways’ fellow Oneworld members are in partnership with its Gulf rivals - Emirates (through its joint business with Qantas) and Etihad (which owns a 29 per cent stake in Air Berlin)? Does Al Baker see this as a problem?
“It’s not an issue for us at all,” he said. “We would still have relationships with them even if it wasn’t for Qantas and Air Berlin. Not only that, we still have interline agreements with Star Alliance members. You know, this is such a global industry you cannot isolate pockets of it. This perception of isolation by the carriers in Europe is now changing. I always say, if you cannot defeat somebody then you join them.”
Asked about whether European carriers should be concerned about Qatar Airways joining the Oneworld alliance, Al Baker replied: “There should be concern by European carriers, but not by Oneworld carriers – because they can see the value we add.
“European carriers have always been screaming about the airlines from the Middle East, especially the three carriers from the Gulf. I assure you that each of those remaining alliances will be knocking at the doors of the Gulf carriers soon …” He paused before raising a laugh by adding: “But they have missed the best one.”